Reaching Out
by GrellSutcliffeTheRipper
Summary: Time may have passed, but the host club is always ready to return to their roots when times get tough.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Straying away from my usual Haruhi/Kyoya stories for once, shock and horror. Enjoy, my lovelies!~

* * *

Reaching out, I grabbed her hand. The clammy skin sent a chill running through me, but I clung on regardless. The clouds looming overhead threatened to burst and drench us to the bone, but had respectfully held off as we gathered today. Soft sobs echoed around us, but we crowded around our princess to shield her from any more grief stricken condolences and heart felt apologies that only served to bring her one step closer to tears.

The body was lowered into the ground; Honey, Mori and Tamaki served to shovel the dirt back into the fresh grave. With each crash of soil upon the casket, I could feel her flinch as the finality of death and reality of life dawned. Kyoya stood behind us, one hand gripping her shoulder in as gentle a caress as he could muster but upheld his usual air of authority. Hikaru was to her left and clutched at her arm tightly. I could see the faint glistening of a tear track on his cheek but his eyes never left the ground. As our club members finished their duty, a silence fell over the small crowd – only muffled sniffling behind tissues chorused around us as the first drops of rain began to cascade.

It didn't take long for the spectators to seek out shelter. But Haruhi remained still, watching the tombstone with glazed eyes. I gave a gentle squeeze to her hand but she didn't return it. She shuffled forward; her movements sluggish as though it was the hardest task she'd ever undertaken. Crumbling by the grave, her choked cries broke through the silence and one by one, we all allowed the tears to fall that we had been holding back throughout the ceremony.

* * *

Her black gown was splattered with mud and her porcelain cheeks tainted with mascara. Silently, I bundled her up into my arms although her tired reluctance was more than apparent through her weak struggling. Mori offered to carry her with a mere beckoning of the hands, but I declined. She hardly weighed a thing so the short walk back up the hill to the car wasn't too arduous. By the time our chauffeur opened the car door for us to clamber in she was out cold in my arms and clutching at the damp lapels of my jacket in her sleep.

Tamaki looked as though he wanted to demand she ride in his limousine, but his tantrum was cut short by a sharp glare from drenched Kyoya. Hikaru followed me in and closed the door softly behind him and locking out the sound of rain pounding the dirt road.

"We can't leave her at home all alone," my whispered words sounded foreign even to my own ears, but my brother heard me loud and clear.

He threaded his slender fingers through her dripping hair and untangled the locks that stuck limply to her forehead. "I know, I know."

"Tono won't be pleased," I sighed. Hikaru's irritated eyes flashed at me from beneath his matted brown fringe.

"To hell with Tono, she's our best friend and there's no way in hell we're abandoning her in this state," he ground out in his croaky voice. I took his hand and attempted to soothe him in silence, fearing he may wake Haruhi who was already whimpering in her slumber. I knew she couldn't be comfortable curled up so awkwardly in my arms but she was clinging on with an iron grip and the thought of wrenching her free filled me with sorrow. It was obvious to me that a seed of envy was already planted in Hikaru's mind, much like Tamaki, that they weren't the ones sweeping her up into their arms and providing some sense of momentary protection.

"She'll stay with us then," I muttered, focussing more on the slight flexing of her fingers against my chest and the droplets of water that made a valiant escape from her now shoulder length hair only to be absorbed into the thick fabric of her dress. We had offered to give her a dress, but she insisted on wearing this. It was one of Ranka's older dresses that didn't quite fit his daughter, but nonetheless we compromised by making slight adjustments so the hem didn't drag carelessly along the floor and the sleeves didn't dangle limply past her hands.

It had only been two years since we had graduated from Ouran but we made sure to keep contact with each of the host club members as often as was possible with such busy schedules. When we had heard the news, we were in Milan with our mother to watch some malnourished models strut down a catwalk in our family's newest designs. Of course we commandeered the private jet and demanded to be flown straight back to Tokyo despite our mother's protests. It was hard seeing Haruhi so devoid of emotion, I still believe it would have been easier to see her in floods of tears at the bedside but it was as though all the life was suddenly sucked out of her. A heart breaking sight if ever I saw one.

Night was beginning to fall; the glaring orange light of the lampposts acting as beacons down the quiet road. Home wasn't too far away thankfully and we knew that the rest of the host club weren't far behind us. It was for the best to be together even if just for tonight, before we had to return to our usual duties but for Haruhi that wouldn't be a possibility now.

I stared up at the sky through the tinted window and the steady stream of rain that pelted at the glass, finally spotting a gap in the clouds where the dull blue was fading into darkness. "I promise that we'll take care of her, Ranka. You don't have to worry."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Next chapter m'lovelies~ Upping the rating to M now. Enjoy! ^_^

That night I awoke to an extra weight pressing down on the mattress. I shuffled across to make room in between me and Hikaru and Haruhi quickly wormed her way under the blankets. In an instant she was clinging to my chest like her life depended on it and I wrapped her up in my arms eagerly. An hour later and I could tell she still wasn't asleep by the gentle flutter of moist eyelashes against my bare chest but the fear of waking Hikaru prevented me from saying something, anything, to make her feel better. Although even if I could speak, I have no clue what I'd say. All the cliché bullshit people say right after a bereavement is meaningless in reality. Sometimes it's better just to say nothing at all.

"Why did it have to be him, Kaoru?" her soft utterance broke the silence.

I couldn't bring myself to meet her eyes so I stared intensely at the ceiling. "I don't know, Haruhi."

"It's not fair. First my mother and now my dad? Fate must really hate me," her voice shook but the tears didn't fall just yet. I tightened my arms around her in silent support.

"Life likes to throw things at us when we're least expecting it. It happens to the best of us unfortunately. But the pain will fade eventually and until it does, we'll be right here when you can't be strong. I promise."

"Kaoru…" She leant forward, her eyes watering, and pressed her lips tightly against my own. I froze, knowing this was so wrong but also not wanting that moment to end. Her tears leaked down onto my own skin but still she didn't waver. Fingers weaved into my hair and tugged with unnecessary force which made me gasp in surprise. She took advantage of the moment of weakness and crashed her lips onto mine again, her tongue meeting mine in a passionate brawl. My mind went blank and the next thing I know she was on top of me, pressing every inch of her body into mine as though trying to meld us together. A quiet groan from beside me stopped us in our tracks, reminding us of the bed's other occupant.

Guilt shot through my veins, leaving my blood feel like ice. What the hell was I doing? Hikaru had never truly gotten over Haruhi and here I was getting it on with her whilst he slept inches away. I was the most horrible brother ever, and a terrible friend. Haruhi was staring down at me with those watery chocolate eyes and they were begging me to do something. I couldn't believe I almost took advantage of her whilst she was in this state. But at the same time, a weird sense of pride was still present in my mind that she would come to me over any of the other hosts – most of whom would probably not have stopped.

"We can't do this, Haruhi. I know this isn't what you really want."

Her head shot up and glared half-heartedly at me. "How can you say that? As far as I'm aware, you can't read minds, Kaoru."

"I don't need to. You love Tono, we all know you do-"

"That's absurd," she hissed in return.

"It's not. I can see it in your eyes every time he speaks to you. When Éclair tried to drag him away to France, you were the one who put so much effort into running to the rescue. That little smile you get when he calls you up, regardless of where in the world he is that day-"

"I'm not in love with Tamaki. I'm not in love with anyone."

"Then don't do this to me," I whispered weakly, eyeing her lips as she licked them slowly.

Again, she dipped her head down to place a gentle kiss at the corner of my mouth and nibbled at my bottom lip. "Please, Kaoru…"

Slowly I traced my fingers down her sides until they met the waistband of her pyjama bottoms. I hooked my fingers under the elastic and played with the lace of her underwear. She writhed under the gentle touch and whimpered into the crook of my neck. Craning my neck, I nuzzled my nose into her hair.

"I can only do something if you stay quiet."

"You don't think I'm trying?" She grinded up against me to try and spur me on and god, it worked. My hand stopped the gentle progression and dove straight between her thighs. I could feel her bite down on her lip, the teeth grazing my neck in the process. It should have been one of the most thrilling experiences of my life but I was finding it hard to purely enjoy it whilst my mind was focussed on detecting any sign of Hikaru waking up.

Haruhi rocked up against my hand subtly and carefully although I could tell she wanted more than that. I wanted to make her scream out to her heart's content and it took every last drop of my willpower not to flip her and show her a proper good time. All too quickly, I felt her bite down on my neck to muffle any cries of ecstasy and it was over. It was as though she melted on top of me and fell into a light slumber. But I couldn't sleep, not now.

I couldn't believe that had really just happened and the idea of waking up with her still splayed out on top of me, pyjamas half way down her thighs, filled me with dread and awkwardness. Hikaru shifted beside me and almost rolled right off the edge of the bed, causing me to flinch. Usually this would have made me chuckle and maybe even shove him a little closer to the edge just for some late night amusement. He would hate me if he ever found out what just happened right here.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yet another chapter for all of you. Thanks to everyone who's reading! ^_^

A sudden squeal awoke us; sending both me and Haruhi into a heap of limbs on the floor followed soon after by Hikaru. I wheezed as the air was crushed out of my lungs and glared up at the idiot who dared to wake me. Tamaki flittered about above us, babbling on about his daughter and damned hooligans as he normally would.

"Tono, it's six in the fucking morning, what the hell do you want?!" Hikaru cried out, swiping at the boy's ankles as we tried to untangle ourselves. I quickly pulled Haruhi's pyjama bottoms further up onto her hips and she glanced up at me in thanks.

"I couldn't find Haruhi so I came to let you know she was missing! But here I find you perverts snuggled up with her," he pointed a finger in my direction and his anger returned tenfold. "How could you, Kaoru!? Don't you have any shame?!"

With an exaggerated sigh, Haruhi pushed herself up and glared at the ex-king. "Shut up, Tamaki. It was lonely in my room so Kaoru let me sleep with in beside them."

"You could have come and slept next to Daddy!" he whimpered, not realising what he had just said.

Haruhi went silent as her shoulders drooped. I was torn between landing a solid punch in his shins and shielding Haruhi away before she started crying again. Thankfully Hikaru took the initiative and jabbed the Frenchman in the knee and he quickly joined us on the floor groaning in pain.

"Tamaki, what on earth are you doing? Have you any idea what time it is? Get back to your damn bed," came a growl; the threatening aura of Kyoya was felt before he made his full appearance in the doorway. He loomed over his best friend with a vicious glare that had even more effect due to his lack of glasses. Tamaki blushed and began twiddling his thumbs, totally forgetting the pain from a minute ago.

"Yeah, Tama-chan, we heard you scream all the way down the hall," the other drowsy blonde poked his head past Kyoya at the doorframe. Honey had grown somewhat since high school and was finally similar heights to Hikaru and I, and his hair had been cut shorter so the blonde locks stood on end in a constant mussed-up bedhead. Mori appeared a few seconds later, grunting at the sight of us, and then turning on his heel to head back to bed.

"I didn't screa-"

"Don't want to hear it." With a single swipe, Kyoya grabbed hold of Tamaki's pyjama shirt and dragged him effortlessly out of the room. Honey eyed us warily from the door before wandering in and sweeping us one by one back onto the bed and joining us under the covers. Haruhi instantly locked her arms around his neck and wept into his chest.

I didn't know what to say again, so we all kept silent as the final morning hours crept past and we fell back into slumber. It was late afternoon when a soft prodding woke me again. Hikaru was watching me from beneath auburn lashes. Soft snoring echoed from behind me and I remembered why the bed was feeling overly cramped, and it also explained the dainty hand that lay across my stomach although if they belonged to Honey or Haruhi, I couldn't tell.

We quickly slipped out of bed and stealthily tiptoed out of the room. Before I closed the door, I glanced back to watch the pair sprawled across our bed. Haruhi was curled up into a ball and Honey was wrapped around her completely, her hair fanned out across his serene face. The jolt of jealousy that struck me in that moment was unsettling, but I tried my best to shake it off and closed the door softly behind me. The mansion was quiet so we assumed mother hadn't returned home yet. Kyoya sat alone in the kitchen with a mug of coffee glued to one hand as the other tapped rapidly at his laptop.

"I take it they are still asleep?" he muttered, still deep in thought over whatever complex calculations he was processing.

"You'd be guessing right," we took a seat on either side of the bespectacled man, sneaking brief peeks at his work out of pure curiosity.

"Out for the count," Hikaru yawned.

Kyoya paused in his typing and stretched in the wooden seat, "let's keep it that way. Dealing with tears isn't one of my specialities."

I gave a dry chuckle, "you don't have to tell us that twice."

"Although we do have to discuss who shall be taking care of Haruhi while she learns to deal with Ranka's death. Tamaki will obviously want that job but I'm not sure if that's in her best interest. I'm willing to let her stay with me for a short while but I doubt I can provide the attention she will need."

"That leaves us, Honey and Mori," I mumbled, pondering what might be the best option. Honey had more time available than his cousin, but that was no guarantee that he could stay home for however long it took. On the other hand, we could work from home on our designs and bring models into the house.

Hikaru crossed his arms tightly across his chest and stuck his nose up in the air. "She'll stay with us."

"Are you sure?"

My eyes flicked between the two, "Hikaru, it should be up to her..."

"No. She's our friend and she's staying here."

I let out a heavy sigh. Arguing wasn't at the top of to-do list today. Snatching up a slice of melon from Kyoya's plate, I began munching away and we returned to sitting in silence. Tamaki wasn't far behind us, taking a seat quietly and swiping Kyoya's coffee to claim as his own. The dark haired boy glared weakly but didn't bother to make a comment.

Awkwardness wasn't something I was used to around the host club, but that's exactly how I felt in this moment. Words seemed to have left us all sitting dumbly in a circle listening only to the steady _tap tap tap_ of the laptop. It was enough to drive me crazy.


End file.
